Arthur Leslie Morton (4 July 1903 – 23 October 1987) was an English Marxist historian. He worked as an

independent scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researche ...

; from 1946 onwards he was the Chair of the Historians Group of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB). He is best known for ''A People's History of England'', but he also did valuable work on

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

and the

Ranter The Ranters were one of a number of dissenting groups that emerged around the time of the English Commonwealth (1649–1660). They were largely common people and the movement was widespread throughout England, though they were not organised and ...

s, and for the study ''The English Utopia''.

Life

Morton was born in Suffolk, the son of a Yorkshire farmer."R. W." {23 February 2014
"A.L.Morton,1903-1987" (obituary)
''Morris Society''. Accessed: February 2014 He had two siblings, a sister Kathleen and a brother Max. He attended school in Bury until he was 16 and then at boarding school in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

. He then studied the English tripos at Peterhouse, Cambridge from 1921 to 1924, graduating with a third-class degree.Staff (19 June 1924) "University News" ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' While at Cambridge, he developed friends around the Labour group, including

Allen Hutt George Allen Hutt (1901–1973) was a British journalist, editor, newspaper designer and Communist and trade union activist. Life Hutt came from a family of printers, while his mother Marion was a headmistress. He attended Kilburn Grammar School ...

who became a typographer and

Ivor Montagu Ivor Goldsmid Samuel Montagu (23 April 1904, in Kensington, London – 5 November 1984, in Watford) was an English filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, film critic, writer, table tennis player, and Communist activist in the 1930s. He helped to de ...

who was later active in the film industry. He encountered socialist ideas, moving towards the communist group at the university around Maurice Dobb.Stevenson, Graham (19 September 2008
"Morton A L"
''Compendium of Communist Biographies''. Accessed: February 2014 After college he taught at Steyning Grammar School in Sussex, where under his influence, most of the staff supported the General Strike in 1926. Dismissed as a consequence, he taught for a year at A.S. Neill's progressive school, Summerhill at that time in

Lyme Regis Lyme Regis is a town in west Dorset, England, west of Dorchester and east of Exeter. Sometimes dubbed the "Pearl of Dorset", it lies by the English Channel at the Dorset–Devon border. It has noted fossils in cliffs and beaches on the Heri ...

. He then moved to London to write and run a bookshop in

Finsbury Circus Finsbury Circus is a park in the Coleman Street Ward of the City of London, England. The 2 acre park is the largest public open space within the City's boundaries. It is not to be confused with Finsbury Square, just north of the City, or Fi ...

. In 1929 he joined the Communist Party of Great Britain and along with his wife, Vivien, remained a member for the rest of his life. Vivien was the daughter of the socialist Thomas A. Jackson. Morton belonged to a group of London left-wing intellectuals of the 1930s, while working as a journalist for the ''

Daily Worker The ''Daily Worker'' was a newspaper published in New York City by the Communist Party USA, a formerly Comintern-affiliated organization. Publication began in 1924. While it generally reflected the prevailing views of the party, attempts were ...

''. He served on the editorial board of the paper. His friends at that time included A.L. Lloyd and

Maurice Cornforth Maurice Campbell Cornforth (28 October 1909 – 31 December 1980) was a British Marxist philosopher. Life Cornforth was born in Willesden, London, in 1909, and educated at University College School, where he was friends with Stephen Spend ...

; he assisted Victor B. Neuburg. In 1932 and 1933, he was involved in a debate with

F. R. Leavis Frank Raymond "F. R." Leavis (14 July 1895 – 14 April 1978) was an English literary critic of the early-to-mid-twentieth century. He taught for much of his career at Downing College, Cambridge, and later at the University of York. Leavis ra ...

, in the pages of ''

Scrutiny Scrutiny (French: ''scrutin''; Late Latin: ''scrutinium''; from ''scrutari'', meaning "those who search through piles of rubbish in the hope of finding something of value" and originally from the Latin "scruta," meaning "broken things, rags, or ...

''. He participated in the Hunger marches of 1934. His 1938 ''A People's History of England'', published by the Left Book Club, was adopted quasi-officially as the CPGB national history, and later editions were issued on that basis. During the early part of the Second World War, he was the full-time district organiser of the Communist Party's East Anglia district and became chair of the district committee for many years. Morton spent most of the 1939–45

World War A world war is an international conflict which involves all or most of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World WarI (1914 ...

in the Royal Artillery labouring on construction sites in the Isle of Sheppey. He was part of the group of leading communist historians invited to Moscow in 1954/5, with Christopher Hill, Eric Hobsbawm, and the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

historian Robert Browning. Morton was a founding member of the

William Morris Society The William Morris Society was founded in 1955 in London, England. The Society's office and museum are located at Kelmscott House, Hammersmith, where Morris lived from 1879 until his death in 1896. The Society aims to make more well-known th ...

in 1955. He participated in the People's March for Jobs in the early 1980s, a demonstration of 500 anti-unemployment protesters who marched to London from Northern England. Morton died in 1987 at his home in The Old Chapel at Clare in Suffolk, aged 84.

Library

A.L. Morton bequeathed his library to the university library of

Rostock University The University of Rostock (german: link=no, Universität Rostock) is a public university located in Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Founded in 1419, it is the third-oldest university in Germany. It is the oldest university in contin ...

Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, ...

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in po ...

, Germany (which was then in the

German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **G ...

and named Wilhelm-Pieck-University after the GDR's first and only president,

Wilhelm Pieck Friedrich Wilhelm Reinhold Pieck (; 3 January 1876 – 7 September 1960) was a German communist politician who served as the chairman of the Socialist Unity Party from 1946 to 1950 and as president of the German Democratic Republic from 1949 to ...

). The collection comprises more than 3,900 volumes, including all foreign-language editions of ''A People's History of England'', many contain hand-written comments by Morton.

Works

''A People's History Of England ''(1938)
*''Language of Men'' (1945) essays *''The story of the English revolution ''(1949), Communist Party pamphlet *
The English Utopia
' (1952) *
The British Labour Movement, 1770-1920
' (1956) with George Tate *''The Everlasting Gospel: A Study in the Sources of William Blake'' (1958) *
The Life and Ideas of Robert Owen
' (1962) *''The Matter of Britain: Essays in a Living Culture'' (1966) *''The World of the Ranters: Religious Radicalism in the English Revolution'' (1970) *''Political Writings of William Morris'' (1973) editor *
Freedom in Arms: A Selection of Leveller Writings
' (1975) editor *''Collected poems'' (1976) *''Three Works By William Morris'' (1977) editor *''History and the Imagination: Selected Writings of A.L. Morton'' (1990) edited by

Margot Heinemann Margot Claire Heinemann (18 November 1913 – 10 June 1992) was a British Marxist writer, drama scholar, and leading member of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB). Early life She was born at 89 Priory Road, West Hampstead, London NW6. ...

and Willie Thompson

References

Notes Bibliography * Calladine, Amy (May 30, 2010
"History from Below"
''New Histories'' v.1, n.7 * Cornforth, Maurice ed. (Winter 1980/81)) ''Rebels & Their Causes: Essays in Honour of A. L. Morton''

Science & Society ''Science & Society: A Journal of Marxist Thought and Analysis'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal of Marxist scholarship. It covers economics, philosophy of science, historiography, women's studies, literature, the arts, and other social sci ...

v.44, n.4, pp. 501–503 * Simkin, John (September 1997
"A. L. Morton"
Spartacus Educational Further reading * Heinemann, Margot and Thompson, Willie eds.(1990) ''History and the Imagination: Selected Writings of A.L. Morton''/ London: Lawrence & Wishart. * Hogsbjerg, Christian (2020) "A.L. Morton and the Poetics of People's History", '' Socialist History'', v.58

External links

AL Morton archive
at Marxists.org
A. L. Morton's Library
in the Catalogue of Rostock University Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Morton, A. L. 1903 births 1987 deaths Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge British communists British male journalists British Marxists Communist Party of Great Britain members Communist Party Historians Group members Marxist journalists 20th-century British historians *